Law School Application Timeline

During your first year of college, you may already be very aware you want to attend law school. Meeting with a pre-law advisor is a great way to ensure you are on the right path as you move through your next couple of years as an undergraduate student. Ensuring you maintain very good grades is of upmost importance during your first couple of years. You need to also look for ways to become connected to the University, either through service, leadership in an organization, or volunteer work. Take a minute to look at first year and second year resources for ways to become involved at UT.

As you transition from your second year to your junior year, you will want to begin collecting information on the various law schools in the United States and start looking at different regions of the country where you would like to live. Further, you will want to work on developing faculty relationships. These faculty members will become very important to you as they will eventually serve as recommenders/evaluators for you when you begin the application process. You will also need to begin preparing for the LSAT exam.

During your senior year, you will begin the law school application process. Applying to law school takes an enormous amount of time and dedication, so you need to be sure that law school is the right graduate path for you.

Below are some suggestions on how to best organize your time during this process beginning with your junior year. Be sure to invest in a daily planner so you can stay organized during the application process. You will need to keep track of schools you have applied to and/or plan to apply to, materials you have sent to LSAC and independently to individual Law Schools, and application deadlines.

Junior Year

Fall

Start establishing rapport with faculty. Just remember, you will need some really strong evaluations or letters of recommendation from faculty members, and they need to know who you are to best evaluate you or write you a good letter.

Try to gain some experience in the field; look at internship possibilities.

Begin researching schools using the Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools (pre-law advisors in Advising Services can assist you in you researching specific law schools). The Official Guide to US Law Schools is also a good source of information.

Start preparing for the June LSAT. Try taking practice tests from start to finish, and be sure to time yourself. Also, Kaplan offers free testing events in fall and spring, so sign up for one of these free test dates. You can also check out LSAC website for LSAT practice materials.

Spring

Register for the June LSAT. If you haven’t begun study, then register for the October LSAT.

STUDY for the LSAT! Take practice tests from start to finish; be sure to time yourself.

Begin thinking about professors to ask about recommendations.

Start working on your resume. Be sure to contact Career Services for assistance with your resume.

Summer

Take the June LSAT, or register for the October LSAT if you haven’t prepared.

Think about your personal statement. Brainstorm ideas and develop your essay from there. See the Personal Statement link on this website for ideas.